Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma Football: Sooner 2017 Recruiting Soaring

By Chip Rouse

Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops speaks during a press conference after the 2015 CFP Semifinal against the Clemson Tigers at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Clemson won 37-17. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops speaks during a press conference after the 2015 CFP Semifinal against the Clemson Tigers at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Clemson won 37-17. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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College football recruiting doesn’t generally make its big splash until the December-January time frame, but Oklahoma football is making headlines much earlier in the recruiting cycle this time around.

Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners take the field prior to action against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners take the field prior to action against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

The football world is naturally focused this week on the NFL draft, but as talented college stars anxiously await the NFL’s annual player draft and what they hope will be their gateway to the game’s next level, other younger football prospects are being observed and recruited to feed the pipeline at the college level.

Under head coach Bob Stoops has assembled several top-10 recruiting classes in his 17 seasons at Oklahoma, but in the last several recruiting cycles, the Sooners’ incoming class has not been ranked as high in comparison with other elite programs around the country.

Oklahoma’s last three recruiting classes (2016, 2015 and 2014), for example, have been ranked 20th, 14th an 13th, according to Scout.com. Rivals.com’s team ranking for the Sooners over that same time frame were virtually identical (20, 14 and 15).

The reason this is important is because the schools that are consistently ranked in the top 10 every season in the national rankings – like Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State and LSU – are the same teams that are putting together the best recruiting classes seemingly year after year.

With 2017 National Signing Day still a good nine months away, Stoops and his Sooner coaching staff are off to an especially strong start with 12 verbal commitments, 10 of which are rated as four-star recruits by Scout.com. Oklahoma trails only No. 1 Ohio State in the early college football recruiting rankings for 2017, according to Scout.com.

ESPN’s Recruiting Nation has the Sooners in the No. 3 slot currently in its ranking of 2017 football recruiting classes, behind Ohio State and Alabama. I think you would agree that is pretty good company to be in. It is also noteworthy to point out that Oklahoma and Ohio State will meet on the field this coming season in Norman on Sept. 17 on the third weekend of the college season.

ESPN Recruiting Nation staff writer Jeremy Crabtree noted on ESPN.com this morning that Ohio State and Oklahoma head a group of seven schools that have six or more commits in the ESPN 300. The Buckeyes have 10 ESPN 300 commits, two more than the Sooners, with eight. Alabama and Clemson both have seven, and Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina each have six.

Here are the Oklahoma 2017 commits who are ranked in the ESPN 300:

Jalen Reagor, wide receiver, Waxahachie, Texas – No. 75

Tyrese Robinson, offensive guard, McKinney, Texas – No. 90

Justin Broiles, cornerback, Oklahoma City – No. 119

Levi Draper, linebacker, Collinsville, Okla. – No. 184

Tre Brown, cornerback, Tulsa, Okla. – No. 209

Chris Robison, quarterback, Mesquite, Texas – No. 248

Trajan Bandy, cornerback, Miami, Fla. – No. 249

Charleston Rambo, wide receiver, Cedar Hill, Texas – No. 260

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